Chang'e Flying to the Moon
According to legend, in ancient times, ten suns suddenly appeared in the sky, which scorched the earth so much that it smoked, and the people could no longer live.
There was a powerful hero named Dayi, who was determined to relieve the common people from this suffering. Dayi climbed to the top of the Kunlun Mountains, gathered all his strength, drew his divine bow, and shot down nine suns in one go. He said to the last sun in the sky: "From now on, you must rise on time and set on time every day to benefit the people!"
Dayi eliminated harm for the people, and everyone respected him. Many people worshiped him as their teacher and learned martial arts from him. There was a man named Feng Meng, who was treacherous and greedy, and he followed others to worship Yi.
Dayi’s wife Chang’e (original name: Chang’e) was a beautiful and kind-hearted woman. She often helps poor villagers, and the villagers like her very much. One day, the Queen Mother of the West on Kunlun Mountain gave Dayi a pill of elixir. It is said that people who take this medicine can not only live forever, but also ascend to heaven and become immortals. However, Yi was unwilling to leave Chang'e, so he asked her to hide the elixir in a treasure box.
Somehow Peng Meng found out about this, and he wanted to get Dayi's elixir. In the early morning of August 15th, Yi was about to take his disciples out, but Pengmeng pretended to be sick and stayed. At night, Pengmeng rushed into Yi's house with a sword in his hand and forced Chang'e to hand over the elixir.
Chang'e thought to herself, wouldn't it hurt more people if such a person took the elixir of life? So, she dealt with Pengmeng tactfully. When Peng Meng saw that Chang'e refused to hand over the elixir, he rummaged through the boxes and searched everywhere. Seeing that she was about to find the treasure box, Chang'e hurried forward, took out the elixir, and swallowed it in one gulp.
Chang'e took the elixir and suddenly flew up. She flew out of the window and flew over the silvery countryside, flying higher and higher. There was a bright moon hanging in the blue night sky, and Chang'e kept flying towards the moon.
When Dayi returned from his trip, his wife Chang'e was missing. He rushed out anxiously and saw the bright moon in the sky, the shadows of the trees dancing on the round moon, and a jade rabbit jumping around under the tree. ah! His wife was standing next to a laurel tree, gazing affectionately at herself. "Chang'e! Chang'e!" Dayi called out repeatedly, chasing the moon desperately. But when he took three steps forward to catch up, the moon took three steps back and couldn't catch up.
The villagers missed the kind-hearted Chang'e very much. They placed the food that Chang'e loved to eat in the yard and blessed her from a distance. Since then, every August 15th has become the Mid-Autumn Festival when people look forward to reunion.
Extended information:
The myth of "Chang'e flying to the moon" originated from the ancients' worship of the stars. According to existing written records, it first appeared in the Warring States Period.
The myths and legends about Chang'e can be found in the classic "Gui Zang" from the Shang Dynasty to the Warring States Period. The explanation of the hexagrams may be that they are husband and wife. Gao You's annotation "Huainanzi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty clearly pointed out that Chang'e was the Great Yi. wife. Dayi's wife Heng'e, because the Han Dynasty people avoided the taboo of the then emperor Liu Heng, her name was later changed to Chang'e.
The "Ji Xue Ji" of the Tang Dynasty quoted the ancient version of "Huainanzi", and the version is: "Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality, and Yi's wife Chang'e stole it and flew to the moon, holding her body on the moon. This is For the toad, but for the moon spirit."
Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty indirectly mentioned Chang'e's flight to the moon in a poem "Chang'e", "Chang'e should regret stealing the elixir, and the blue sea and sky are in her heart every night."
Baidu Encyclopedia-Chang'e Flying to the Moon